Purifier for contaminated liquids



Dec. 31, 1929.

G, H. GREENHALGH ET Al.v

PURIFIER FOR CONTAMINATED LIQUIDS 3 Sheets-Sheet Filed June 27, 1924 STILL DIST/l LA TE' 93 IIIIII Dec. 31, 1929.

G. H. GREENHALGH FAI..

PURIFIER FOP. COTAMINATED LIQUIDS Filed June 27, 1924 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 unnnnnnn nnnnnnnun mnmnnnmnnn nnnannunn DDDEDDUUDD Ders. 31, 1929. G. H. GREENHALGH ET AL 1,741,595

PURIFIER FOR ICOTAMINATED LIQUIDS Filed June 2v, 1924 s sheets-sheet s Wnueucoz s @331g M @Hoff/mm3.

Patented Dec. 31', 1929 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE GEORGE H. GREENHALGH, OF NEWARK, NEW JERSEY', AND ROBERT I. F. LIDDELL, OF NEW YORK,'N. Y., ASSIGNORS TO MOTORS IMPROVEMENTS, INC., A CORPORATION F DELAWARE Application tiled June 27,

Our invention relates to apparatus for purifying contaminated liquids and for separately' collecting the pure liquid and the inipurities removed therefrom. In describing our invention as particularly applicable to the purification of used lubricating oil such as the oil. drained from internal combustion engines, machine tools, and the like, We do not Wish to be understood as limiting our invention thereto, since obviously the apparatus may be used with a. variety of Widely different materials and for many different purposes.

The invention hasfor its main object the removal of contamination from used oil and other liquids by simple and automatic means.

Other objects of the invention are to provide convenient means for disposing of used oil, for clarifying the same by the removal of foreign matter including dirt, sediment, carbon and minute solid particles; for distlling the same to remove low-boiling diluents, lighter hydrocarbons, water, and other liquid impurities, and to obtain a lubricant of uniform desired viscosity; for regulating the distillation of the oil to obtain a light, or heavy orinterinediate grade of finished oil as desired; for carrying on the distillation Without injuring the oil and without wasting the valuable diluents removed from `theoil; and for accomplishing the above objects automatically and simply in fool proof apparatus, requiring little or no attention, and adapted to start up and operate Whenever it is supplied with oil for purification and to stop operating when the supply of oil for purificationhas given out.

Hei'etofore it has been a great problem to users of lubricating oil in quantity to know what to do with the used. contaminated and Waste oils. The reclaiming of such oils by the expensive and complicated refining apparatus heretofore known has been inefficient and not worth the cost except in cases where suflicient' supply of oil was available at all times to keep the apparatus in constant operation. To smaller users the problem 'of getting rid of such oil has become a serious source of expense and annoyance'. Using waste oils sporadically as boiler fuel or the PURFIER FOR CONTAl-VIINATED LIQUIDS 1924. serial No. 722,667.

like is` unsatisfactory and generally impracticable. .In many localities the disposal of oils in rivers or sewers is prohibited by law. Accuniulati'ons of used oils in garages. machineshops, etc. are generally not Worth reclaiming by means heretofore known and so are barreled and carted away with resulting loss of the lubricating values and expense of disposal as Well.-

It is noW recognized that lubricating oill does not wear out by use, and that containinated oil when purified may be as good or better than when it was new. In providingr a simple and eflicient apparatus for automatically reclainiing and purifying used oils and adapted for eiicient use With small and intermittent supply aswell as with steady supply up to its full capacity, We have at once provided means for preventing the loss of valuable lubricants and diluents through disi posal of the used oils and for avoiding the expense and bother of getting rid of them.

Our invention is particularly adapted for use. in garages, machine shops, small factories, and the like, where the supply of used oil is spoi'adic ;and it is designed to operate With little or. no attention and Without waste. i

The foregoing and other advantages of our invention will appear from the following description of an apparatusembodying a preferred form of the invention. The apparatus described is, however, merely illusti'ativeand it will be understood thatour invention embodies any and all of the devices or combinations coming within the scope of the appended claims. p

In the drawings which form a part hereof and in which like reference numerals indicate like parts, Fig. 1 is a top view of an apparatus embodying a preferredform of our invention. Fig. 2 is a front view of the same, partly in section. Fig. 3 is a vertical section on the center line of the filter. Fig. 4 is a verticalsection on the center line of Fig. 3. Fig. 5 is a vertical section on the longitudinal center line of the still.- Fig. 6

is a top View of the still with cover removed?,v

Fig. 7 is vertical section on the line 7-,7- "1,1100

lao

Fig. 6. Fig. 8 is a diagram of the electrical connections.

The apparatus is preferably mounted on a horizontal pedestal 10 which is rounded at both ends to' accomodate the contaminated oil tank 11 and the pure oil tank 12 respectively. An upper horizontal frame member 13 of correspondingform is provided withannular depressions 14, 15 in its lower surface to fit over the upper edges of the tanks 11 and 12. The member 13 consists of'a continuous vertical flange 16 and web or drain portion 17, which slopes from the top of the tank 12 to the lip of the tank 11 so that any oil spilled upon it will drain into the tank 11.

The bottom of the tank 11 may converge conically toward a valve 18 communicating with a lower chamber 19 provided with a hand hole 20 for the purpose of removing relatively large solid particles that may be in the oil when it is put in the tank 11. Such impurities together with the oil that is particularly dirty, lumpy, or'thick and undesirable, pass by natural settling action into the chamber 19. This can be occasionally cleaned out by closing the valve 18 and opening the hand hole 20.

rlhe pipe 21 carries oilfrom a point near the bottom of the tank 11 but above the va'lve 18 to the pumpv 22 here indicated as an ordinary gear pump operated bythe shaft 23, disk 24, friction wheel 25, and electrically operated motor 26. The motor 26 is pivotally supported near one end by brackets 27 -so that the wheel 25 is held in friction engagement with the peripheryof the disk v-24 by a considerable portion of y'the weight of the motor 26. We find a friction drive or its equivalent is desirable. in order to prevent 'undue filter.

The oil is pumped through pipe 28 into the filter ycasing 29 entering the casing by a port (see Fig. 4) located preferably in the upper portion of one of the side walls thereof. The filter maybe of any desiredform or kind. We have shown a filter in which a relatively large filtering area yis combinedwith compactness and efficient filtering means. The filter casing is rectangular in horiz'ntal section with a clean out port 30 at the bottom. The filter cover 3l is provided with a central outlet aperture 32 and is adapted to support in communication therewith a depending hollow T- shaped fitting 33, upon which the JVfilterelementsare adapted to be mounted. The filter elements 36 maybe of any well-known construction but for compactiiess we prefer to pressure orbreakage in the pump or use metallic drainage elements 35 coatedwith appropriate filtering materialand providing internal drainage space for the passing of filter oil to the filter outlet 32 as hereafter described. l

According to this constructlon as illustrated in Fig. 4 each filtering element is apertured near the top thereof to fit snugly over one or other of the .horizontal arms 34 of the T-shaped fitting 33.

Such filtering elements and their supports are fully described in the co-pending application of G. H. Greenhalgh filed November 27, 1923, Serial No. 677,202. The horizontal arms 34 of the member 33 are adapted to pass through the apertures in the drainage member 35 of each of the several filtering elements 36, and the same are held rigidly in place orf the arms 34 by screws 37 engaging interior threads .within the arms 34. Longitudinal slots 38 in the members 34 allow communica tion between the hollow interior of the arms 34 and the interiors ofthe several drainage elements 35 thus affording passage for the filtered. oil from the interior of each drainage member 35 to the interior of the arms 34 of fitting 33. As shown in Fig. 4 the filtered oil then rises through fitting 33 to the filter outlet 32. The drainage elements 35 are preferably covered by filtering material such as canton flannel or the like, which may be impregnated with a filter aid such as keiselguhr, though excellent results are obtainable without the use of such a filter aid. The drainage elements themselves are constructed as a form for the filtering material and to provide free drainage space for the oil after it has passed through the filtering material, and to prevent the filter material under pressure from the pump from clogging the drainage space.

The foregoing vconstruction makes cleaning of the filter very easy by simply removing the filter cover 31 ycarrying with it the member 33 and all thefilter elements 36. The filter elements may be disassembled by unsc'rewing the screws 37 and assembled again without difficult Y.

From the filter outlet 32 the filtered or clarified oil preferably passes under reduced' the outlet 32 from the filter, an outlet 42 at a highlevel communicating by pipe 43 with `the receiving tank 11, and an outlet44 at a low level communicating by pipe 45 with the still 46. The purpose of this gravity feed def vice is to make the feed to the still a feed under constant pressure determined bythe gravity head ofthe oil between the outlet 42 'and the still 46, and inde ,endentwof variations in the pressure of 011 from the filter. Any excess in the amount of filteredl oilover the amount of oil admitted to the still by the automatic feed control device hereinafter described simply overflows through pipe 43 back into the tank 11. t

`The still 46 consists of anoil chamber 47 separated by a horizontal partition 48 from a heating chamber 49, wherein is contained any desired form of heating device. lVe have illustrated an electric heating element because of the ease of controlling the same in connection with the other operating parts of thevapparatus. At or near one end of the chamber 47 is a vapor outlet 50 and a pure oil-outlet 51. A flange 52 extends around the upper edge of the walls of the chamber 47. Near the opposite end of the still 46 from the outlets and 5l, the flange 52 and walls of the chamber 47 are cut away to receive the parts 53 and 54 of the feed control member 55. A cover 56 is provided for the chamber 47 which fits tightly to the flange 52 and around the upper portions of the parts 53 and 54, so that on both sides and at the outlet end of the still, the cover 56 forms air tight connection with the body of the still. A vent 57 is provided at the inlet end of the still to allow air to pass into the still and over the surface of the hot oil, as hereinafter described.

The feed control device comprises a hollow cylindrical portion within which is closely fitted a sleeve 58. In the lower portion of the part 55 are a number of valve chambers 59, 60, each valve'chamber communicating with the hollow `cylindrical portion of the part 55, and also having a vertical movable valve 61 and valve stem 62 and spring 63 acting on a pin 64 on the valve stem to keep the valve normally seated in the closed position. The sleeve 58 is provided with a number of apertures 65 disposed helically around its surface so that when the sleeve is rotated to bring one aperture 65 into communication with its corresponding valve chamber, the other apertures are in such position as to close off communication between their corresponding valve chambers and the interior of the sleeve 58. The sleeve 58 communicates through part 53 with pipe 45, by which oil is conveyed to the still from the gravity feed device 40. A handle 6 6 is attached to part 54 by which to turn the sleeve 58 into desired position. By this means the entering flow of oil through pipe 45 may be put into communication with any one or other of the valve chambers 59, 60, at will by turning the handle 66 and part 54 into proper position to bring one of the apertures 65 into communication with the desired valve chamber.

Arms 67, 68 extend diagonally downward from the feed control member 55 toward the bottom of the chamber 47 at the outlet end. The lower ends of these arms are connected by a cross bar'69 having a lug 70 adapted to reston a projection 71, which positions the bar 69 in spaced relation above the partition 48. Strips of bi-metallic thermostatic metal 72, 73, corresponding in number to the number of valve chambers 59, 60, are attached at one end tothe bar 69 by screws 74 so that they normally lie in horizontal position with their free ends under the valve stems 62 of the corresponding valve chambers. These thermostatic strips of metal are adapted to lift the corresponding valves at different temperatures, one of them at a relatively low temperature, for example, 400 F., another at a higher temperature, for example 460 F., and another at a still higher temperature, for example, 5000 F., etc. Any appropriate form of thermostat may be employed. lVe have successfully used common bi-metallic strip thermostats where brass was the lower metal and steel the upper metal. It will be understood by those skilled in the art that such a bi-metallic strip, supported as shown in Fig. 5, will bend its free end upward when subjected to increasing temperature because of the difference in coefficient in expansion of brass over steel. The valves 61 and springs 62 are made light andv small so as to be easily operated by upward pressure of the thermostats. The pressure of oil on the valves 61 is only such as results from the slight gravity head in device 40. There can be no pressure from pump 22 in the oil line 45 to the still because of the free overflow of excess` oil from device 40 by passages 42 and 43 into the container 11. Thus we have found that in our apparatus the lifting force of the thermostats is amply sufficient to operate the valves and to control the flow of oil into the still as described.

The operation of the still 46 is as follows.

The handle 66 is turned to bring one of the apertures 65 into communication with the valve chamber which corresponds to the therdirect communication with pipe 45 through` the sleeve 58 and part 53. Upon applying heat in chamber 49 as by assing current through the electric stoveA il ustrated in the drawings, the temperature of the oil in the chamber 47 is raised. As the temperature of the oil rises, the free ends of the thermostats begin to rise; thermostat 72 rising most rapidly because it is set to operate at the lowest temperature; thermostat 73 rising less rapidly because set to operate at a higher temperature, and so on. Vhen the oil reaches the temperature for which thermostat 72 is set to operate, the free end of that thermostat comes in contact with the valve stem 62 of the valve 61 in valve chamber 59, as shown in dotted lines in Fig. 7, and then lifts the valve lll) 61 so that oil 'from the gravity feed device 40 lowing through pipe 45, sleeve 58, aperture 65, and valve chamber 59` is permitted to flow past the valve 61 into the chamber 47, thereby cooling the oil therein. The cool oil continues to low into the still in this manner until the temperature ot' the oil is reduced suiiiciently to move the thermostat 72 downward, so that the valve 61 is lclosed'and the inflow of cold oil stopped. This operation is repeated with alternate opening and closing of the valve 61, and the temperature of the oil in the chamber 47 is thereby kept substantially uniform. The vapors formed at 'this temperature are drawn oli through the outlet 50 and the residue oil of desired viscosity may flow out through overflow outlet- 51.

It it is desired to produce a medium viscosity oil, the handle 66 and sleeve 58 may be turned to bring an aperture 65 in communication with the valve chamber 60. In this way communication between the sleeve 58 and valve chamber 59 is cut off so'that operation of the valve 61 by thermostat 72 is ineffective to allow oil to flow into the still. At

this position of the handle 66 the inflowpf oil is controlled by thermostat 73, which, inlike manner, tends to keep the temperature ofthe oil in the chamber 47 substantially constant at an intermediate temperature, for example 4600 F. l

Similarly if the handle 66 is set to allow communication only with the valve chamber correspondingr to the thermostat that controls for the highest temperature, the oil in the still will be held substantially uniform at the highest temperature. In short, the thermostats are each effect-ive to open the corresponding valves when the oil in the still reaches the temperature for which the vare set, but each one is effective to allow in ow of new oil andthereby control the temperature in the still only when the handle 66 is set to provide communication between pipe 45 and the valve chamber corresponding to that particular thermostat. In this way means is provided for automatically controlling the viscosity of the residual oil produced in the still and for controlling this means to produce oil of relatively low viscosity or high viscosity or of intermediate viscosity. It is only necessary to set the handle 66 to a` position corresponding to the viscosity desired and the still automatically produces oil of that viscosity.

In order to promote' distillation and to facilitate the collection of the diluents, the apparatus is preferably rovided with means for passing a flow of air over the surface of the hot oil in the still. In the device shown in the drawings, this is accomplished by providing the vent or slot 57 between .the cover and body portion of the still, and by providing a suction fan between t-he vapor outlet 50 and the distillate tank 80. A vapor pipe 8l connects the vapor outlet from the still 46 to interese the fan housing 82 bolted to the housing of the motor'26.\ A. fan 83 on the shaft of the motor 26 sucks the air and vapors through pipe 81 and drives them through pipe 84 into the distillate tank 80 where the vapors are collected and may be condensed by any appropriate means, not shown. The distillate n erally consists of light hydrocarbons, inc uding gasolene, kerosene, etc., which may be ofy considerable value for use in cleaning tools, burning as'tuel, and other purposes.

When the oil in chamber 47 rises to outlet 51,'it overflows through pipe 85 into 'the pure oil tank 1 2.. rIhis oil, having been filtered and then -distilled at a temperature controlled and kept uniform by the particular thermostat that is in operation, will be free bothof solid impurities and of those diluents that boil at temperatures lower than that maintained in the still. The filtered and distilled oil which collects in the pure oil tank 1 21we accordingly refer to herein as reclaimed o1 At a point near the bottom of the receiving tank 11 but somewhat above the opening into the pipe 21, a float 90 is supported by the arm 91 pivotally attached to the tank wall. A contact 92 is carried by the float 90 and is adapted in one position of the float to engage a second contact 93 and to be out o contact therewith in another position of the float. As shown in Fig. 8, these contacts are connected by suitable wires with a source of electrical energy and with the motor 26 and the electrical heating unit 49a disposed in the chamber 49 of the still 46. The contacts are brought into engagement with each other at a predetermined oil level but below that level are out of engagement withA each other. When the contacts are engaged both the motor 26 and the still 46 are energized `but when the contacts are disengaged both the motor and the heating unit of the still are deenergized. By this means the pump, fan and heating unit are energized only when the oil in the tank 11 has reached a predetermined level. At other times the various units are dre-energized. The apparatus works auto-` matically upon the introduction the receiving tank 1l.

Accordingly the machine will be seen to be automatic in every particular.` It is merely necessary to decide what viscosity of oil is desired and set the -handle 66 accordingly, and then introduce used oil into the tank 11. The machine will at oncel function to effect an initial settling puritication of the oil by dropping the heaviest impurities into the chambei` 19. The remainder of the oil will be forced by pump 22 under pressure through the nlter 29, thereby effectively clarifying the oil and removing tine impurities. The clari iied oil will be passed in turn to the still 46 1n such quantity as the automatic control mechanism in the still will permit, the balance of oil into of the clarified oil being returned to the tank. By the time the oil in the tank ll has dropped so low as to open switch 92, the filter and still will have functioned to purify the oil passing through them resulting in the collection of clarified and distilled oil of uniform viscosity in the pure oil tank 12, and the collection of distillates largely consisting of lighter hydrocarbons in the distillate tank 80.

No supervision-whatever is necessary as 'the device stops when it has no further work to do. Thus is provided a simple and efficient device which not only disposes of the used oils, but automatically and cheaply produces and collects in separatevessels pure lubricant of uniform viscosity and distillates of considerable value, v

It will be understood that the foregoing description of the invention in connection with the reclamation of used oil is not to be understood as limiting the invention to that use. It may be used for removing contamination from a variety of dierent liquids. vIt may be used for clarification or filtration alone, or it may be used for distillation alone, or if desired, an auxiliary filter may be inserted between the still and the tank 12 for removing from the distilled liquid any undesirable products of distillation. While it is generally desirablein the case of oil t distill it after it has been substantially clarified, it may be preferable in certain cases or in the treatment of certain liquids, to reverse the order of treatment and distill before clarifying. A great variety of changes and fer means, said control means being responsive to a change in levelof liquid in said tank.

2. In an apparatus of the character .de-

v scribed a tank, a filter, a still, means for heating said still, means?y for transferring liquid from said tank successively to said filter and still and `control means for starting and stopping said transfer and heating means, said .control means being responsive to a change in level of liquid in said tank.

3.'In'an apparatus ofthe character de scribed aj tank, a filter, a pump for transferring liquid from said tank to said filter, a still, a conduit leading from said filter Vto saidstill and means responsive to the .temperature of the liquid in said still for controlling flow through said conduit.

l 4. In an apparatus of the character described a tank, a filter, a pump for transferring liquid from said tank to said filter, a still, a conduit leading from said filter to said still, means responsive to the temperature of the liquid in said still for controlling flow throughv said conduit and means responsive to a change in level of li uid in said tank for starting and stopping tie operation of said pump.

5. In a device of' the character described a tank, a filter, a pump for transferring liquid from said 'tank to said filter, a still, means for lheating said still, a conduit leading from said said devices being operable at different temperatures, a tank, a filter and a pump for transferring liquid from said tank through said filter to said still. 7. In an apparatus of the character described a tank, a filter, a pump for transferring liquid from said tank to said filter, a still, a conduit connecting said filter and still, heating means for said still, a fan for removing vapors from said still andcontrol means for starting and stopping said pump, fan and heating means, said control means being responsive to a change'in level of liquid in said tank.

In testimony whereof, we have signed our names to this specification.

GEORGE H. GREENHALGH. ROBERT P. F. LIDDELL. 

